Agriculture remains the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, contributing more than one-fifth of national GDP and employing nearly half of the workforce. Spanning the fertile Indus River plain, the country’s diverse agro-climatic zones support the cultivation of more than 100 crops, including wheat, rice and cotton. Pakistan is also the world’s third-largest producer of milk.

In horticulture, citrus, mangoes and apples form the core of its export portfolio, supplying markets across Europe, the Middle East and China, says a report carried by Gwadar Pro on Wednesday Yet this critical sector is constrained by deep-rooted structural challenges. Low productivity, intensifying climate stress, fragile value chains, limited mechanization and the slow uptake of modern technologies continue to weigh on growth.

As nearly 60 percent of Pakistan’s population is under the age of 30, turning this demographic dividend into a driver of agricultural modernization has become an urgent national imperative.

The widening skills gap has emerged as the most binding constraint on Pakistan’s agricultural productivity. Despite possessing arable land three times the size of China’s Henan Province, Pakistan produces only about 60 percent of Henan’s grain output.

Efficiency and technology gaps are particularly pronounced. Agricultural mechanization covers only around 40 percent of farming activities—below the Asian average—while advanced technologies such as precision agriculture and smart irrigation are adopted by fewer than 20 percent of farms.

Weaknesses in processing and distribution further erode value. Food processing capacity remains limited, with most agricultural products marketed in raw or semi-processed form. In the fruit and vegetable sector, deep-processing rates remain below 10 percent.

Post-harvest losses are especially severe: manual harvesting leads to mechanical damage, grading is rudimentary, optical sorting is rare, and storage infrastructure is underdeveloped. Pakistan’s total cold storage capacity stands at only about 1.2 million tons, concentrated largely in major cities, with rural coverage below 5 percent.

As a result, an estimated 30–40 percent of fruits and vegetables are lost annually during storage and transport, with citrus losses reaching as high as 40 percent.

Gaps in disease control and food safety management further restrict productivity and market access, as plant and animal diseases continue to pose systemic risks.

“Technical and vocational education and training is not a peripheral reform—it is central to Pakistan’s national development,” Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said at the second Pakistan–China TVET Forum last month, where 21 MoUs were signed to advance joint programs in vocational education.

In 2025, Pakistan–China TVET cooperation accelerated. More than 500 Pakistani agricultural professionals completed training programs in China under the Thousand Agriculture Graduates Program. Li Jinsong, Chinese-side chairman of the China–Pakistan TVET–Industrial Center of Excellence (CPTICE), noted that 269 Pakistani students are currently enrolled in China–Pakistan dual-diploma programs in agriculture-related disciplines.

Success stories prove to be base-building: Tianjin Modern Vocational Technology College has established a Luban Workshop in Pakistan focused on agricultural machinery, training more than 1,000 local technicians to date.

Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology has delivered Chinese-language and skills training for Pakistani enterprises and university students in Gwadar to support digital industries and trade.

Shaanxi A&F Technology University has trained more than 100 participants from Pakistan in high-efficiency irrigation systems and seed production and processing technologies.

Looking ahead, agricultural TVET cooperation between Pakistan and China is set to expand further in 2026.

Chen Qingping, chairman of World Supply Chain (Hebei Free Trade Zone) Co., said her company has begun rolling out training modules focused on processing and circulation technologies for technicians from food-processing firms, cold storage and logistics workers, agricultural traders and cooperative managers—aimed at aligning skills provision more closely with industry demand.

“Training priorities include three areas. First, boosting value addition through grain deep processing, fruit and vegetable processing, and livestock product processing, with an emphasis on small, low-cost equipment suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Second, reducing post-harvest losses through training in pre-cooling, grading, packaging, controlled-atmosphere storage and cold-chain logistics. Third, promoting digital agriculture, including skills needed to build a national agricultural market information platform,” she shared.

Wang Haibo, vice president in charge of administration at Xinjiang Agricultural Vocational and Technical University, noted that rapid growth in China–Pakistan agricultural trade has also driven deeper cooperation in technology transfer, talent development, investment and standards alignment. In the first half of 2025 alone, Pakistan exported 1.03 million kilograms of meat to China, worth US$5.24 million—up 139 percent year on year.

“Future cooperation will focus on modern livestock farming. Through the China–Pakistan Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Academy, partners plan to co-develop veterinary and livestock programs, bilingual curricula and digital course resources, while inviting Pakistani instructors to China for short-term training. Demonstration farms and breeding enterprises will also be established to diffuse new technologies and raise farmers’ incomes,” , he said.

Addressing Pakistan’s chronic cold-chain bottleneck is another priority. Han Bing, a representative of Guilin Technicians College, said the institution has prepared customized cold-chain skills training programs and is ready to work with Pakistani schools and enterprises. Through joint training, shared training facilities and the dissemination of energy-efficient refrigeration technologies, the initiative aims to cultivate urgently needed talent and support the upgrading of Pakistan’s agricultural value chains.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP) — Pak-China